NOW THAT YOU’VE HAD SOME PRACTICE working fast and small, it’s time to kick the fear of the blank canvas aside using your small pieces as inspiration. A large part of abstract art is setting aside your fears or preconceived notions of how something is supposed to look and just diving in. There’s time to worry about design and composition later as the painting comes together. For this demonstration limit your color choices so you’re not overwhelmed with options. Choose a cool or warm color palette. I’ll introduce a few new tools and supplies that you’ll use throughout the lessons in each chapter. Here are some simple words of advice to ponder: don’t fear a blank canvas…it’s just a canvas!
20 gauge Fineline applicator filled with black fluid acrylic paint
Ampersand gessobord
Assorted acrylic paints: Titanium White, Quinacridone Magenta, Teal, Golden High Flow Diarylide Yellow
Brayer
Deli paper
Dura-Lar wet media film
FW Acrylic Ink Scarlet
Gesso
Neocolor II crayons
Scraping tools
Soft black pastel
Soft body gel medium
Spray bottle
Stabilo All Pencil in black
Using a Dura-Lar wet media clear sheet and a Fineline applicator filled with acrylic paint, cover the entire sheet with a variety of doodles. Use a gentle touch with the applicator bottle. Angle the bottle low to the surface so you have more control over your lines. Set aside to dry.
On an Ampersand gessobord, scrape a dollop of gesso onto the surface. While the board is still tacky, draw scribble lines using a Stabilo All Pencil. Don’t press too hard or the pencil will blend quite a bit when you paint over the lines. Add a touch more gesso over a segment of lines so a portion of the marks recedes into the background.
Use a crayon to pull out some shapes from your doodles and scribbles. If you don’t see obvious shapes, create some!
Drop a few dots of acrylic ink onto the surface. Spray a little water onto the ink blots to encourage the ink to bloom. If desired, tilt the surface so the ink runs slightly. Allow the painting to dry for a few minutes before moving on, or blot excess ink with a paper towel.
Using Golden’s high flow acrylic, brush the paint around shapes you identify. Vary the size of the areas you are painting. Play with the shapes you’ve created and let them guide you as you work your way around the surface.
Continue to develop the painting by adding acrylic paints and inks, but try to limit your palette to just a few colors.
At this stage, try redrawing your lines or shapes using a pencil or pastel. Continue building up the layers of paint color as you discover new shapes.
Add paint splatters and simple lines such as dots, dashes, circles or scribbles with your crayon, pencil or paint.
Use a scraping tool (I used a catalyst blade) to scratch into the wet paint.
Darken the edges of the shapes with your choice of drawing medium. Use your fingers to smudge the edges so the shapes pop with definition. Once the surface is dry, cut a segment of the doodled transparent sheet you created in Step 1. Ensure that the sheet is completely dry before using it. Apply your collage element to the surface with soft body gel medium.
To secure the collage piece, use a piece of deli paper over your transparency after you’ve applied the gel medium. With a brayer or your fingers, roll over the collaged paper starting from the center and working to the outside edge.
